Becca’s Hype: The week after Facebook’s biggest scandal

Welcome to this week’s edition of Becca’s Hype! Today we’ve got the latest news on Instagram’s algorithm tweak, the Facebook & Cambridge Analytica scandal, and an update from Snapchat.

Instagram updates feed order

Hands up if you’re unhappy with the Instagram algorithm? Me too! Luckily, the platform is finally allowing users some much-requested control over feeds. Are you ever caught scrolling through your feed only for it to refresh and then lose where you were? (I have this problem a lot if I leave the app for a minute and come back) Well now, Instagram is testing a “New Posts” button, meaning you will be able to let Instagram know when you’re ready to refresh, meaning you should be able to stop missing out on posts.

In addition to this, Instagram has also said that they’re tweaking the algorithm itself to try and make newer posts appear first in your feed. This won’t be full on chronological like we used to know, as Instagram will still base your feed on who it thinks you’ll want to see first, but it’s better than nothing!

Hey, isn’t this fantastic timing? Keep Instagram users happy by addressing feature changes that have been requested for well over a year, just as #deletefacebook starts trending? Hmm… more on that below

Facebook involved with Cambridge Analytica scandal

The news story you couldn’t miss, last week Facebook’s reputation fell to a new low when it was unearthed that data from 50 million Facebook users had been sold to third parties. Oh dear.

How did this happen?

We’re all guilty of tapping the ‘Sign in with Facebook’ button when using apps, and this was the start of it. A personality quiz made by Aleksandr Kogan, was downloaded by 270,000 people who decided to give the app Facebook permissions. At this point in time, Facebook developers could not only access data on the users who logged in, but also data on the friends of who had logged in. This data was then saved to a private database which was later accessed by Cambridge Analytica who used the data to make profiles of voters in the US 2016 election.

What’s happening now?

Cambridge Analytica has been searched by the Information Commissioner’s Office as part of an ongoing investigation, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in several British and American newspapers to apologise for the scandal.

The headline read: “We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t, we don’ deserve it.”

Fair to say Facebook paid a fortune for this. Here is Mark Zuckerberg's full-page personal apology on the back pages of the Mail on Sunday, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror and Observer: pic.twitter.com/80WBYNXysn

New Messenger tools

Despite Facebook woes last week, there was a new update to Messenger. The online chatting platform now gives users new admin tools for groups. These new admin roles mean you get to approve new members before they join your group chat, as well as having the power to remove or demote members if necessary.

This feels like an obvious step forward, especially as you can now have up to 250 users in one group chat! Who knew?

Snapchat updates the Snap Map

Remember that slightly creepy Snapchat feature where you can see where all your friends are currently on a map? Yes… well, Snapchat has updated the Snap Map, and have added a new feature called Explore. Explore will show you when friends are traveling, be it a road trip or a flight, as well as if they’re at any big events like a festival. You’ll be able to see this via their Bitmoji on the map.